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Steps to Setting Up PHP 5

1.Download PHP 5

Before you begin, get a copy of PHP 5 fromthe PHP download page. In particular, download thezip package from the "Windows Binaries" section - that is, don't get the installer. For example,select the package labelled "PHP 5.2.5 zip package" if 5.2.5 is the current version.

2.Install PHP 5

Create a folder on your hard disk for PHP. I suggest "c:\php" although you can use other names if you wish. Personally though, I prefer to avoid names with spaces in it, like "c:\Program Files\php"to avoid potential problems with programs that cannot handle such things. I will assume that youused c:\php in this tutorial.Extract all the files from the zip package into that folder. To do that simply double-click the zipfile to open it, and drag all the files and folders to c:\php.

3.Upgraders: Remove the Old PHP.INI File from Your Windows Directory

If you are upgrading to PHP 5 from an older version, go to your windows directory, typicallyc:\windows, and delete any php.ini file that you have previously placed there.

4.Configuring PHP

Go to the c:\php folder and make a copy of the file "php.ini-recommended". Name the new file"php.ini". That is, you should now have a file "c:\php\php.ini", identical in contents with"c:\php\php.ini-recommended". Note: if you are using Apache 1, you should either move the php.ini file to your windowsdirectory, "C:\Windows" on most systems, or configure your PATH environment variable toinclude "c:\php". If you don't know how to do the latter, just move the php.ini file to the"c:\windows" folder. You do not have to do this if you are using Apache 2, since we will include adirective later in the Apache 2 configuration file to specify the location of the php.ini file.Use an ASCII text editor (such as Notepad, which can be found in the Accessories folder of your Start menu) to open "php.ini". You may need to make the following changes to the file, dependingon your requirements:

1.Enable Short Open Tags

Search for the line that reads:short_open_tag = Off If short_open_tag is set to "off", tags like "<?" will not be recognised as the start tag for aPHP script. In such a case, to begin a PHP script, you will need to code your script withan opening tag like "<?php". Since many third party PHP scripts use "<?", setting this to"Off" will give you more problems than it's worth, particularly since most, if not all,commercial web hosts that support PHP have no issues with your scripts using "<?" asthe open tag. To fix this, change it to the following:

short_open_tag = On

2.Magic Quotes

By default, input data is not escaped with backslashes. That is, if your visitors enter aninverted comma (single quote) into your web form, the script will receive that unadornedinverted comma (single quote). This is for the most part desirable unless you specialrequirements. If you want your input data to have the backslash ("\") prefix, such as, for example, to mimic your web host's settings, search for the following:magic_quotes_gpc = Off and replace it with:magic_quotes_gpc = OnDo not do this unless your web host has this setting as well. Even with the setting of "Off", you can still use the addslashes() function in PHP to add the slashes for thespecific pieces of data that need them.

3.Register Globals

A number of older scripts assume that all data sent by a form will automatically have aPHP variable of the same name. For example, if your form has an input field with a nameof "something", older PHP scripts assume that the PHP processor will automaticallycreate a variable called $something that contains the value set in that field.If you are running such scripts, you will need to look for the following field:register_globals = Off and change it to the following:register_globals = OnWARNING: Do NOT do this unless you have third party scripts that need it. Whenwriting new scripts, it's best to always code with the assumption that the register_globalsitem is set to "Off".

4.Display Errors

On a "live" website, you typically want errors in your script to be silently logged to aPHP error file. On your own local machine, however, while you are testing anddebugging a PHP script, it is probably more convenient to have error messages sent to the browser window when they appear. This way, you won't miss errors if you forget to check the error log file.If you want PHP to display error messages in your browser window, look for thefollowing:display_errors = Off

And change it to:display_errors = OnThis value should always be set to "Off" for a "live" website.

5.SMTP Server

If your script uses the mail() function, and you want the function to successfully sendmail on your local machine, look for the following section:[mail function]; For Win32 only.SMTP = localhostsmtp_port = 25; For Win32 only.;sendmail_from = me@example.comChange it to point to your SMTP server and email account. For example, if your SMTPserver is "mail.example.com" and your email address is "youremail@example.com",change the code to:[mail function]SMTP = mail.example.comsmtp_port = 25sendmail_from = youremail@example.com Note that after you do this, when your script tries to use the mail() function, you will needto be connected to your ISP for the function to succeed. If you do not modify the abovelines and attempt to use mail() in your script, the function will return a fail code, anddisplay (or log) the error (depending on how you configure php.ini to handle errors).(Note that in Apache 1.x, the smtp_port line may not be present. If so, don't include it.)

How to Configure Apache for PHP 5

There are two ways to setup Apache to use PHP: the first is to configure it to load the PHP interpreter as anApache module. The second is to configure it to run the interpreter as a CGI binary. I will supplyinformation for how you can accomplish both, but you should only implement one of these methods.Choose the module method if your web host also installed PHP as an Apache module, and use the CGImethod if they have implemented it to run as a CGI binary.

1.Running PHP 5 as an Apache Module

To configure Apache to load PHP as a module to parse your PHP scripts, use an ASCII text editor to open the Apache configuration file, "httpd.conf". If you use Apache 1.x, the file is found in"c:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache\conf\". Apache 2.0.x users can find it in "C:\ProgramFiles\Apache Group\Apache2\conf\" while Apache 2.2.x users can find it in "C:\ProgramFiles\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\conf\". Basically, it's in the "conf" folder of wherever you installed Apache.